Chapter 22 – "Pride Troopers fall! A final declaration of justice against an unstoppable foe."
A cool breeze blew through Netfiss city as Dyspo and Kahseral walked over to their coffee shop, located within a building a block away from Pride Trooper HQ. The wind tunnels the building generated almost blew Kahseral's beret off his head with a heavy gust, getting a chuckle or two from Dyspo as he tried to hold it in place. He often thought of just gluing the darn thing permanently on his head but losing out on that head of hair wasn't worth it.
Five days have passed since the fugitive escaped the planet. There was an initial wave of panic as citizens scrambled to seek shelter under orders from the Pride Troopers, reinforcing curfew.
Dyspo and Kahseral organized three varieties of patrols: the first being cycling foot patrols between Kettol and Kunshi, vehicle and air surveillance monitored by Zoiray from their battle cruiser, the Gauntlet, and within HQ with the help of Cocotte. Interstellar patrols were carried out by Jiren in the slight chance the fugitive might've escaped to an outlying system elsewhere.
After the third day, the Pride Troopers were able to incorporate basic civic duties back into their daily routine: arresting those committing unlawful behaviour, aiding citizens, and rescuing lost animals.
Dyspo continued to be vigilant about his search for the fugitive, vowing that they would never give up until he would come back. Dyspo had a feeling he would return, boasting that "the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."
"You still honestly believe the criminal will come back to Netfiss?" Kahseral asked him as they exited the coffee shop. Dyspo winced as he took a sip of the hot liquid and blew on it quickly to cool it down. Kahseral applied his usual cream and sugar from a small table the shop owner provided for customers before stirring it, looking up at the skyline.
"How many times will I have to repeat it to you, General? The crim-"
"The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime," the two spoke at the same time, generating a gruff sigh from Dyspo. Kahseral took a few sips before pausing and adjusting the beret on his head. He examined some schematics of his eye piece and performed a scan of the area. He paused before he took another sip and frowned.
"I'm about ready to call it quits on this wild goose chase to be honest," he said, not looking at anything in particular. Dyspo shook his head and sighed.
"This is not a mission Pride Troopers give up on, ever," he assured him and Kahseral gave him a sideways glance, his one eye looking tired from Dyspo's point of view.
"There's been a few grumblings from the upper ranks of the Troopers that you've been working the soldiers too much. A few of us have already decided to abandon this mission to resume our normal duties off-world. I think it's time I do the same," Kahseral said and Dyspo was a bit taken aback from this.
"As if I could do such a thing to our Troopers, General!" He protested but a look from Kahseral indicated that he wasn't entirely wrong. Dyspo sighed and tried to hide his flustered look behind his coffee cup.
"Sorry, that was mean-spirited of me," Dyspo relented and glanced down at the ground.
"Nonsense, my friend. Your resolve has carried this for all of us since the first day the criminal escaped us. Lord Barbon would be impressed at your tenacity to continue this mission for so long. I'm only contemplating this but I haven't made up my mind just yet. Come, let's head back to HQ and get our reports in. I'm certain one of the commanders have found something by now."
Kahseral put a hand on Dyspo's shoulder and the other general nodded with a grin. As they made their way to their headquarters, they spotted a few delinquents decorating the wall of an alleyway and the two shook their heads.
"Guess those reports will have to wait, then," Kahseral said and the two crossed the street to engage them.
"What's the meaning of this defacement?" Dyspo called out to the group, who looked no more than young adolescents. In their panic, they dropped what they were holding and ran off in the dark alleyway. Dyspo was about to give chase but a hand held him back.
"I would've let you take them in had they actually do anything with these paint cans but scaring them off works just as well," Kahseral said with a grin. Dyspo took a sip, glancing sideways at him and sighed through his beverage.
"A crime is still a crime," he said.
"You learn well enough to judge what crimes are worth apprehending criminals for and which ones are only in need of a stern look or a verbal warning. Besides, with the fugitive on the loose out there, telling a bunch of kids not to draw graffiti on a wall is almost a waste of our energy."
"Heh, hope you're not going soft on us, General," Dyspo said as he turned around. He took another sip and glanced up. He almost dropped the cup when he saw the silhouette of a figure in the sky, shadowed by the sunlight behind him so Dyspo couldn't recognize the face. He could see the hint of energy being channeled in front of the figure and his eyes widened a bit when he saw how familiar it looked.
"General," Dyspo muttered.
"Huh?"
"Look up."
Kahseral could see Dyspo lose a bit of color in his face as he stared wide-eyed up at the sky and he spotted the figure as well with an outstretched hand.
"It's him!"
"Him?"
"Yes, him! The fugitive!" Dyspo yelled, crushing the cup in his hand. He didn't care about the rest of the liquid that gushed out from it and tossed it aside, taking to the air immediately.
"Hey, wait!"
"Go to HQ and send a galaxy wide communication to the other Pride Troopers to get their butts back here immediately! We'll rendezvous at my coordinates! GO!" Dyspo commanded Kahseral and he flew off to the same height as the figure as Kahseral downed his cup as quickly as possible, ignoring that it was still a bit hot for him to be used to. He carefully threw it in the trash receptacle (taking care to throw out Dyspo's crushed cup as well) and ran as fast as he could to the headquarters and burst through the doors. Cocotte was lounging back, reading from a magazine.
"Captain, signal the Troopers!" Kahseral barked at her and she nearly fell off her chair backwards in a panic.
"Geez General, warn a girl first," she whined before adjusting herself and tossing the magazine aside. She put on her headset and entered a few keystrokes on their computer.
"Send a priority one distress signal to all Pride Troopers and make sure they relay the message to any that are out of range: Prisoner 312-1984 has returned! Repeat! Prisoner 312-1984 has returned!"
"On it!" Cocotte cried and immediately began relaying the message as Kahseral ran out of the building to fly up so he could meet Dyspo in the air.
Kelerot, his hand outstretched, grew more hesitant about firing this energy blast at the city. He felt his hand begin to shake and swallowed, closing his eyes. He shook his head before opening them again and studied his other hand.
"What am I doing?" he said and saw someone fly up to his eye level several hundred feet away and the energy in his hand shrunk until it was gone and he frowned, narrowing his eyes. There was another one that joined up with him shortly afterwards and Kelerot couldn't help but grin.
"Eh? Didn't I tell you, Kahseral?! I said he'd come back but no one believed me!" Dyspo said, laughing a bit. Kahseral was busy staring at Kelerot and noticed the different clothing on him and the look of confidence in his eyes.
"You've recovered," Kahseral said and Kelerot floated slowly towards them.
"A miracle if I do say so myself. I thought I was actually going to die but someone graciously healed me back to a hundred percent," Kelerot said. And provided me with an incredible boost in power once more.
"The devil's luck will only get you so far, monster," Dyspo stated, crossing his arms and Kelerot rolled his eyes.
"Stubborn as always," Kelerot muttered.
"What was that?!" Dyspo cried out, pumping his fist at him. Kahseral put his hand on Dyspo's arm to lower it.
"Don't let him provoke you, General. Wait for the Troopers to arrive and then we'll engage him."
"Smart move, calling in reinforcements, Kahseral. Just know that it won't matter how many you bring in," Kelerot said, hands behind his back.
"Tch, what's with this confidence all of a sudden? Last time we saw you, you were running away scared with your tail between your legs. Do you honestly think you can handle us? We're the Pride Troopers! The most elite and powerful avatars of Justice of the entire universe!" Dyspo yelled, brimming with pride about the Troopers, something he had no qualms about saying when it mattered the most. Kelerot's grin widened a bit but he didn't say anything else, which unnerved him a bit.
"You won't be grinning so much once Jiren gets here, mark my words. If I could, I'd have Lord Barbon here himself to destroy you where you stand," Dyspo told him and Kelerot's eyes narrowed, his smile erased.
"So Toppo isn't here, then?" Kelerot said and closed his eyes. He shook his head after a few seconds.
"Hmph, how fortunate for you that he isn't here because I can't sense him anywhere. Maybe I still need time to adjust to this new power but I have an idea of what divine energy feels like and I would've been able to sense Toppo's location. Maybe at the Destroyer's world?"
He glanced up and looked to take off but Dyspo flew up to cut him off, almost to his face.
"You're not going anywhere! You will stand for your crimes here and now!" he screamed and Kelerot rolled his eyes.
"I have no business with any of you other than information about Toppo's location. But since he's not here I don't feel the need to stay. Call off your reinforcements, there's no need for useless blood to be spilled this day," Kelerot said and Dyspo grabbed him by the collar.
"You DARE threaten the Pride Troopers, you bastard?!" he sneered, gritting his teeth. He stared daggers at Kelerot wanting nothing more than to put him down for good.
"Trust me, if I threatened you, you'd know it," he replied and glanced down at Dyspo's hands. He wasn't agitated by this gesture and waited for Dyspo to let him go, which he relented a bit and relaxed his grip.
"We're not leaving you out of our sight this time, criminal. We made that mistake last time."
Kelerot floated back to gain some distance from the pair and crossed his arms. He brought his legs up to a seated position while in the air and closed his eyes.
"You know I've gained the ability to teleport out of here. But since you insist on taking me down I'll entertain you for a bit," Kelerot said, but his eyes focused squarely on Dyspo.
It wasn't long before several ships descended into the atmosphere. When they were close enough, hatches opened to reveal hundreds of Pride Troopers. Soldiers wearing their red and black spandex uniforms with white gloves and boots all flew down to meet up with Dyspo and Kahseral and they stared intently at Kelerot. Some looked nervous when he stared back at them, others looked defiantly at him, echoing Dyspo's disgust and disdain for the criminal. Cocotte soon joined up with them as well as Kunshi and Kettol and Kelerot eased out of his seated position to scan the whole area, looking at each Trooper cautiously.
"Commanders Kettol and Kunshi reporting ready with squads alpha and gamma, General!" Kunshi informed the two with a command pose. Kettol matched it with a pose of his own and Kahseral nodded, saluting them.
"Where is Commander Zoiray?" Dyspo asked the two.
"Standing by in the Gauntlet, General," Kettol notified him and Dyspo nodded, smiling.
"Is he in direct orbit?" Dyspo asked him.
"Yes sir."
"Commander Zoiray, come in," Dyspo said, pressing a button on his wrist communicator.
"General," came a voice from the other end.
"I'm sending you coordinates for the Justice Blaster, prepare to fire on my mark," he said amid gasps from several soldiers.
"General, why would you want to aim the Justice Blaster on the planet? There're civilians that could become casualties in the crossfire!" Kettol informed him and Dyspo smirked.
"Have no fear, Commander, no civilians will be at risk. The blast is focused squarely on him," he said, pointing to Kelerot.
"I thought justice meant rehabilitating hardened criminals into productive members of society sucking at the teat of the Pride Troopers," Kelerot said, gaining a few cold stares from the soldiers.
"Your brand of evil is beyond redemption, monster," Dyspo hissed. "There is only one solution: to end your wickedness once and for all."
"Coordinates are set, target locked in, sir," Zoiray's voice came through the communicator and Dyspo narrowed his eyes, staring directly at Kelerot.
"Fire."
A pillar of light surrounded Kelerot from the sky and he glanced up at the source, raising an eyebrow. Particles of light danced upward from the ground as the pillar grew brighter and the energy began to solidify in a huge beam of energy that shot down from the heavens directly above Kelerot. He stared up at it quietly and soon enough the light enveloped him completely, slamming itself down on the planet's surface. The soldiers shielded their eyes from the explosion, which rocked the area around it, sending shockwaves cascading towards Netfiss city. Dyspo smiled as a barrier blocked the oncoming energy waves and he laughed out loud.
"Hah! Take that!" he cried, staring directly at the pillar of light. Some of the soldiers joined in and began cheering as Dyspo raised his wrist to his mouth.
"Excellent shot, Commander Zoiray! What's the ETA on Jiren?" he asked.
"The signal barely reached him, sir. But we can calculate that at his distance and velocity, he should reach Netfiss within 10 minutes at top speed," Zoiray informed him and Dyspo nodded.
"Good. Keep this channel open, Commander," Dyspo said.
When the light dissipated, smoke billowed up from the impact that concealed the area before him. They wanted to be sure that the light vaporised the criminal in front of him and waited patiently for the smoke and dust to clear.
A few seconds passed and some of the soldiers were growing restless. They wanted to be sure that the target was eliminated and continued staring ahead. Some gulped, swallowing after what felt like a long time since they last did so. The more restless of them felt their hearts beat faster, nervousness in their faces making them sweat.
Dyspo turned to Kahseral. "Whoever thought of our massive space cannon should get a promotion. I love that piece of technology."
"Um, that was actually your idea, General," Kahseral said, netting a giggle from Cocotte. She hid her smile and laugh behind her hand but Dyspo chuckled anyway, hands to his hips.
"Lord Barbon should be proud of our Gauntlet, the Justice Blaster worked like a charm," he said, and was immediately cut off by a beam of energy that shot upward from the smoke. His eyes widened as he spun around quickly to see the source of the energy beam and his eyes shot upward.
"ZOIRAY, GET OUT OF THERE!" he screamed but the channel cut off into audio static. An explosion heard from above immediately ensued and several pieces of the Gauntlet flew into the atmosphere below, the Pride Troopers looking on in horror.
"Zoiray…" Cocotte whispered, covering her mouth. Kahseral was left speechless, Kettol and Kunshi hung their heads, eyes closed, and Dyspo slowly glared at the smoke that cleared up, revealing Kelerot with his hand raised up in the air, glaring at him.
"Zoiray," Kahseral said soberly, looking down.
"Tupper," Kettol added.
"Vuon," said Kunshi, echoing the same sentiment. Dyspo clenched his fists tightly. If he hadn't worn his gloves, his nails would've dug so deep into his skin it would've drawn blood.
"Three of our finest Troopers felled by this monster," he said and looked up at him.
"How many more Pride Troopers must you murder in cold blood before you're satisfied?!" he screamed at Kelerot.
"As many as there will be too stupid to get in my way of the only ones that matter," Kelerot replied.
"What?!" screamed Dyspo and Kelerot lowered his hand.
"Listen to me, soldiers of the Pride Troopers!" Kelerot called out to the group behind Dyspo and the other top officers.
"Whatever he tells you is a lie! Stand your ground and fight!" Dyspo called out to them but Kelerot ignored him for now.
"None of you need to die this day! Not a single one of you will die here so long as you stand down and go home! This doesn't involve you and I hope that you won't have to die so needlessly after joining ranks with these officers.
"The same goes for the higher ranking officers. If your space cannon was ineffective against me, that should serve as a warning of the kind of power I wield before you. You are good people fighting for a righteous cause, a cause I once believed in until those two," he pointed at Kahseral and Dyspo, "arrested me for a crime I didn't commit. Go and live another day so that you can protect this universe against the real criminal scum that seek to undermine it! This is my one and only warning: Do not force my hand, otherwise it'll end badly for all of you!"
"Do not sully our good name with your lies, monster!" Dyspo cried out, pointing a stabbing finger in his direction and Kelerot palmed his face, sighing.
"What will it take to get through to you morons?!" Kelerot cried out, losing his patience and the soldiers took up fighting positions, some drawing their blaster pistols from their holsters.
"Your threats are empty, prisoner 312-1984! Justice will prevail tod-" Dyspo began but couldn't believe how fast Kelerot had moved to appear in front of one of the soldiers, who was too freaked out to even notice what had happened. In a single moment, he stared face to face with Kelerot who had his hand in front of him, palm facing outward. Dyspo was too dumbstruck to register the speed at which Kelerot had moved. How did he move that fast?!
The soldier raised his blaster pistol with shaking hands up at Kelerot, who stared at him with a calm yet cold expression. He could see the sheer terror in the poor man's eyes and for a moment he didn't want to do this. He could've left this battlefield the whole time but he felt compelled to teach that long-eared imbecile a lesson and he narrowed his eyes at the soldier.
"Hakai," he muttered and destruction energy enveloped the soldier from the inside, a wave of energy that jutted outward from his whole body and the soldier screamed an inhuman scream that dissolved itself in the air before the rest of him dissipated into purple particles to the horror of everyone around him. His whole body deconstructed and destroyed before their very eyes. All that was left were bright purple molecules that eventually disappeared in front of them and the soldier ceased to exist.
"It can't be," said one of the other soldiers.
"He's a God of Destruction?!"
"This is absurd, we didn't enlist for this!" said another and Dyspo glared at all of them.
"Stand your ground, all of you! Don't let this intimidate you!" Dyspo said, trying to put on a brave face but even the sight of a living being erased from existence for the first time in his life rattled him fiercely. His face betrayed his emotions as he watched Kelerot stare emotionlessly at the void that was once a soldier and the fear of a Destroyer's power became very real for him. He always somewhat underestimated Barbon's power when he heard that he was training to succeed Belmod as God of Destruction. He remembered seeing the power of Destruction energy but only when it came to inanimate objects. That it could destroy Katchi-katchitite so easily during the Tournament of Power was one thing; seeing it destroy a living person before his very eyes sealed it for him that this power was real, and it was terrifying.
"Scramble! Make sure he doesn't get near you to destroy you!" Kahseral's orders cut through the tension as the soldiers immediately gained distance from Kelerot.
"Fire! Fire!" Kahseral barked again and the soldiers fired their blaster pistols at Kelerot. The blaster bolts did nothing but bounce off of him as he studied the area, soldiers surrounding him from all directions.
"General, we need your instructions," Cocotte flew up to him. She could see that he was deep in thought as he stared at Kelerot and she shook him by the shoulders.
"General! Get a hold of yourself! We need to be brave! Remember, this is our justice, our way! We won't let him get away with this anymore!" she cried out and Dyspo swallowed, taking a few deep breaths.
"Y-yes, you're right, Captain. I apologize for losing my nerve. Kunshi, Kettol, to me!" he called out and the two commanders flew to him. The shorter blue-skinned Pride Trooper looked equally nervous about having witnessed the horrific display but he saluted Dyspo regardless. Kettol remained stoic but he too showed uneasiness in his face when he saluted the General.
"We'll mourn our losses afterwards. For now, we must show the utmost courage and resolve. Determination will enforce justice, remember that. Cocotte, I need you to form a barrier to surround Kunshi and Kettol so Kunshi can lay his network while Kettol surrounds the criminal with his guided energy balls. We'll bombard him with as much firepower as we can within that energy barrier until Jiren arrives. He's our only hope against him."
"But sir, we can take him down ourselves. We'll defeat him before Jiren arrives, I'm certain of it," Kettol told him and Dyspo nodded with a weak smile.
"Thank you, Commander. We could use a lot of that today. Kahseral and I will ready our own team attack in the meantime and fire at max power. For Justice!"
"FOR JUSTICE!" the three cried out in unison with Dyspo and took their positions in the sky. Kelerot began taking flight towards a few of the soldiers and destroyed them just as easily as the first with the Hakai technique, deflecting a few blaster bolts back at the soldiers which struck them either in the chest or in the head, one of them piercing through the neck. One by one the soldiers began dropping from the sky, some unfortunate enough to be erased, letting their blaster pistols fall from their hands before they disappeared.
Kunshi and Kettol appeared in a pincer setup, pinning Kelerot in between them. Kunshi charged up his energy and surrounded him with a network of energy fibers that jutted around him like a giant spiderweb, while Kettol fired several blue energy balls that weaved their way in between the energy fibers. Kelerot stopped to examine the surrounding energy and his eyes widened a bit when Cocotte's barrier formed itself around both him and the network of energy, trapping him within all three levels.
"We got you now, scumbag!" Kunshi shouted, chuckling a bit.
"You can't escape the elite brass of the Pride Troopers," Kettol said, echoing Kunshi's enthusiasm as Cocotte focused her energy on maintaining the barrier. Kelerot glared at her through the energy and she reacted a bit uncomfortably at his icy stare.
Kettol let out a cry as the energy barreled down on Kelerot inside the barrier, and Kunshi moved the network to converge on Kelerot, forcing him into a tighter confine.
The energy collided against him and exploded inside the barrier, rocking it heavily. Cocotte winced at the level of energy that forced itself within the barrier and she gasped, almost losing control. But she took a deep breath and put more energy into the barrier, increasing its strength.
"That should be enough to take him out," Kettol said to Kunshi.
"I know. This was the perfect set-up that he couldn't escape from," Kunshi reiterated.
"Will you two stop gloating and focus on making sure he's actually dead?" Cocotte piped in and felt a tremendous amount of pressure coming from inside the barrier as an intense wave of energy billowed out from the center, pushing against the inside of the barrier.
"Ugh, I can't…I can't hold this on for too long! He's way too strong!" she cried out in a panic.
"Captain, we'll help you out! Soldiers, lend her your energy to strengthen the barrier!" Dyspo commanded the remaining soldiers and they all flew towards the barrier, channeling their energy to syphon it into the barrier to strengthen it. Cocotte relaxed for a split second but felt a rebound of energy push back against the barrier, even stronger than before and cracks began to show itself on the energy's surface. She let out an audible gasp as the barrier shattered completely and Kelerot raised his hands up to his side. He spun around and swiped the air with his hands and an array of powerful energy explosions rocked the soldiers around him, causing them to scream out in terror before some were vaporized in the blast and others struck by waves of powerful energy as they tried to put up a defense, burned up by the impact before they too fell out of the sky. Dyspo and Kahseral used the distraction to gather together and began powering up to charge up their attacks simultaneously.
"Now!" Dyspo screamed and both he and Kahseral fired their Double Cannon Maximum blast in unison, the beams swirling and combining into one larger energy beam that soared directly at Kelerot, who glanced one moment too late to avoid it. He quickly raised his hand to smack it out of the way, redirecting it upward out of the atmosphere and he was caught off guard by Kahseral and Dyspo charging towards him, both with energy blades protruding from their hands like swords. He grimaced and blocked their initial attacks before going on the defensive as they both attacked him with super sonic speed, the three disappearing and reappearing all over the battlefield, blurring around everywhere as their blades clashed against Kelerot's hands and forearms, sometimes forcing him to kick them away as he defended himself against Dyspo's increased speed and Kahseral's strategic movements. He had a bit of difficulty at first due to the unexpected attack but as he grew adjusted to their fighting style during their attacks, his blocks became more precise as it gave him breathing room to start dodging them.
"We can keep this up until Jiren gets here, then you won't have anywhere to go but to hell, scumbag!" Dyspo screamed during his multiple slashes and thrusts with his energy blade while Kelerot blocked Kahseral's slower movements. He caught Dyspo's right wrist as he came down with a slash and used his leg to kick Kahseral hard in the gut as he was coming in from his flank, winding him heavily. Kelerot flipped backwards to avoid Dyspo's other arm and moved around behind Kahseral to roundhouse him down to the ground. Dyspo's fury escalated as he moved in on Kelerot and began picking up the pace, boosting his speed considerably. Both he and Kelerot vanished in a blur and flew around the planet, with Kelerot blocking Dyspo's myriad of blows as the long-eared Pride Trooper did anything he could to gain the upper hand but his face was wrought with frustration at the ineffectiveness of his attacks that were each blocked by Kelerot.
When the two circled the planet and returned to the battlefield along the outskirts of Netfiss city, Cocotte and Kunshi helped Kahseral back to his feet. His beret fell off his head after he had been knocked down to the earth below by Kelerot's kick and Kunshi handed it to him so he could place it neatly back on his head.
"General, please rest a moment and let us take up arms in your stead," Kunshi relayed to him but Kahseral shook his head.
"No Commander, I refuse to sit down while he's up there tearing us down. We'll strike back and strike hard with a United Justice Stream. Kettol, to us!" he shouted up and Kettol flew back down to land and salute Kahseral.
"General, have you sustained major damage?" Kettol asked, worried about the state Kahseral was in since he was favoring his abdomen with his hands. He gave him a quick nod and stared upward, adjusting his eye piece to focus on Kelerot's and Dyspo's movements, both moving around the air at super speed.
"General Kahseral, are you sure the Justice Stream will be powerful enough to take him out?" Kettol asked and all Kahseral could do was stare up at the scuffle. He didn't provide a response which worried Kettol a bit but the other three were all observing the fight, with the leftover soldiers, only less than a dozen remaining, watching on and waiting for an opening to get in a few shots at Kelerot.
"You. Will. Lose. This. Fight. I. Swear. It!" Dyspo screamed with each attack he was making, ensuring that each slash and stab with his energy blade was working its hardest to strike Kelerot. At the last one, Kelerot caught the blade in between his hands and he stared at him, eye to eye. Dyspo growled and grunted as he tried to free himself, letting the energy go out of disappointment. He clenched his fists and returned Kelerot's gaze with sheer contempt.
"You'll pay dearly for the lives you've taken this day and every day prior to this. Those innocent people you destroyed not that long ago, the prisoners who could've been reformed and returned to civilization to lead better lives. Their blood is on your hands!" Dyspo cried, putting on a brave front. He was still quite shaken at the fact Kelerot destroyed that soldier but he didn't want his face to betray his composure.
"If you're referring to the innocent bystanders at Toppo's appreciation day, I do regret that. I tapped into a power I wasn't familiar with and lost control. I didn't want to involve anyone else in my objective to see you, Kahseral, and Toppo ground to dust beneath my feet."
"Tch, feigning remorse won't get you out of this one so easily, scumbag. There is only one way out of this now, and that will be your death, the only resolution our way of justice sees for you."
Kelerot's eyes narrowed. "Seems all of us here have chosen death as the absolute certainty. I'll see that I don't disappoint you then."
A slight grin appeared on Kelerot's face that rattled Dyspo even more and he could feel the air stir below him. The other Pride Troopers were gearing up for their Justice Stream and he did wear a smile for once.
"Oh I'm counting on it," Dyspo uttered, then he glanced over Kelerot's shoulder. "Ah! Lord Barbon, thank goodness you've arrived!"
Kelerot took the bait and turned around, surprised. Dyspo used this to rush him and nail him with a right hook to the face which caught him. He slammed him down hard to the ground and turned to the other Pride Troopers.
"DO IT!" he screamed and the four charged varying colored light spheres that shot out to join together and with that energy converging and swirling together, the Pride Troopers shifted into their dramatic poses, fists clenched.
"FOR JUSTICE! JUSTICE STREAM!" the four shouted in unison and the swirling colors coalesced into one large energy beam that fired directly up at Kelerot who was crashing down towards it.
Dyspo looked down excitedly as Kelerot and the energy beam collided, causing a giant explosion of light and energy that pulsated around the area, almost blowing away the lower grunt Pride Troopers who had to shield their faces from the incoming gusts of wind and energy that billowed outward. The Pride Troopers that were on the ground studied the explosion carefully, hopeful that it did its job and they'd eliminate their threat.
Dyspo cheered and pumped his fists in the air triumphantly. "Yeah! Way to go! Now that's how we do things on Netfiss! Glory to the Pride Troopers! Justice! Is! Served!"
He continued cheering as the smoke of the explosion billowed around the impact area. Kahseral breathed a sigh of relief for a moment and almost fell over backwards, landing on his rear as he forced himself to sit down. Kunshi and Kettol exchanged satisfied looks, nodding towards each other and Cocotte put her hands to her chest, sighing in relief as well with a content look on her face.
Kahseral had a peaceful look on his face for what seemed like an eternity, unsure whether he would ever have such a look, but that look faded away quickly when his ocular device blipped and his one eye went wide in horror as the scanner detected movement behind Cocotte. He gasped when he saw Kelerot appear behind her.
"Cocotte, BEHIND YOU!" he screamed but Kelerot was too fast for her to react properly. Seizing her head in his hands, he did one quick twist and broke her neck completely, turning her head almost a full 180. The look of horror remained on her face as she fell limp on the ground, eyes wide and glazed over, mouth agape. The remaining Pride Troopers watched the incident, unable to process what had happened until it was too late and Dyspo's face went from sheer terror to unbridled fury. He screamed as he darted straight for Kelerot and fired an energy blast aimed straight for him. Had Kelerot not been so fast, the blast would've surely connected before Kelerot could react, but he disappeared moments before the energy hit the ground, causing a crater to form where Kelerot once stood. The blast sent Cocotte's limp body flying away to another area and her body flopped around as it landed. Dyspo couldn't believe his eyes at how fast Kelerot moved. How?! How the hell is he so strong and so fast?! HOW?!
Kettol and Kunshi searched frantically for where Kelerot might reappear but Kettol was the next unfortunate victim as a hand pierced through his chest from his back, Kelerot having reappeared behind him to drive his hand through. He stared down at the protruding hand as blood trickled down out of his mouth and he reached up with his hands to grab Kelerot's arm.
Kelerot glared at Kunshi, who began weaving his energy network but stared wide-eyed in absolute fear at Kelerot's other outstretched hand, the dark purple aura of destruction surrounding him and his stare was like peering directly into the void itself. Kunshi was in fight or flight mode and immediately favored the latter, turning to fly up and away.
"Hakai," Kelerot uttered and destruction energy enveloped Kunshi from within, much like it was with the first soldier that had been "deleted". Kunshi screamed as his body twitched before it dissolved into those purple particles of energy, erasing him from the battlefield. Kelerot pulled his arm free from Kettol and the taller Pride Trooper collapsed to the ground as he stalked over calmly towards Kahseral. He raised his hand up towards the sky as he continued approaching him and fired precise energy blasts that were aimed at the remaining soldiers, the energy balls homing in on what was left of them. They flew away trying to escape them but one by one they were all engulfed in the incredible energy and were subsequently vaporized in the process. All that was left among the living Pride Troopers on the field were Dyspo and Kahseral, the former still making a bee line towards Kelerot, screaming in absolute rage.
Kahseral was on his knees, his face worn with defeat at the bodies laid out before him. Cocotte a little ways away, her head pointed in an unnatural direction staring blankly with dead eyes. Kettol staining the earth with his blood, seeping out profusely from his open hole left by this monster's hand, eyes staring at nothing in particular. The remaining soldiers that hadn't been vaporized all littered the field with their corpses. This wasn't a battle; this was a massacre.
Dyspo built up his aura and dark purple energy jutted out from around him. In his desperation, he moved into his super light speed mode and rushed Kelerot, who blocked a punch at the last split-second, surprised at how fast Dyspo had pushed himself. He expected a slight increase in the slim fighter's movements but not to this extent and he flew back to land beside Kettol. Dyspo clenched his hand tightly until the knuckles in his gloves were white. Tears of rage streamed down his face as his body shook, teeth gnawing and clenching together, he shot a look at Kahseral.
"On your feet, General," he said with as much composure as he could, his words cold and focused. Kahseral's eye widened and he shook his head. Glaring with renewed passion, he stood up beside Dyspo and he clenched his fists, charging up to raise his battle power as high as he could push it, Dyspo doing the same.
Kelerot closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose before opening them up again.
"Come," he said quietly and Dyspo moved first, his body moving so fast that he melted into his own energy, blurring his body. Kelerot disappeared and re-emerged with Dyspo, their bodies moving so fast that to them, Kahseral was barely moving at all. The world around them shifted in their hyper speed movements, colors swirling around them and objects blurred to indistinguishable shapes. Their fists and kicks clashed together as they moved, with all that could be seen were several exploding waves of energy all around the atmosphere as Kahseral watched the two engage furiously.
He charged up an attack, his trusted Justice Bomber from his hand, sensing the movements of the two as he waited for the right moment to throw it at Kelerot, hoping he'd make a direct hit rather than hit Dyspo by accident. However, this proved to be highly problematic judging by how fast the two were fighting and despite the renewed sense of purpose from Dyspo's words, he was at a loss for what to do. Just our luck that he would show up on the one time Jiren wasn't here. This battle would've been over a lot sooner and no one would've died needlessly.
He felt a great deal of despondency from watching the greatest force of the universe annihilated within minutes by one person. All it took was one individual to undo decades of hard work and dedication to enforcing justice throughout the cosmos. He sincerely hoped Lord Barbon didn't witness this on the off chance that he were to observe what was occurring on Netfiss and his hope dashed even more when the thought of how Jiren would take in all of this. A shiver ran through his body as he looked at his fallen comrades for a moment and nodded.
"Thank you for still putting your trust in us, Jiren. This one's for you," he said and took to the air, hand still charged up with his Justice Bomber. He wanted this one to count and put all of his power behind this attack as he flew straight towards the two. He hoped this would work out in his favor this time and expected Dyspo to be aware of his coming.
Dyspo was moving around, leaving afterimages in his wake to throw Kelerot off, but each time he'd move, Kelerot would sense where his energy was moving to where he'd stop next. He could detect a faint sense of energy elsewhere coming up towards him fast and sensed Kahseral making his way up. Facing the two at once might be problematic if he doesn't contain this quickly enough but Dyspo put in one more burst which doubled, then tripled his afterimages around Kelerot, finalizing it with a circular motion with his hand, which he moved to surround Kelerot with as he passed over him, launching it down as he blazed by him, not giving Kelerot enough time to dodge. Binding Kelerot's arms to his side, Dyspo flew out and turned around quickly to make his way back, shooting himself like a bullet to hit Kelerot in the back of the head. He stopped and then moved back the other direction, each time striking Kelerot on the way. He stopped and moved, stopped and moved, onward and forward with each strike hitting Kelerot in passing as the ring kept him from using his hands to block.
Kelerot grunted as he was being hit and he felt Kahseral approaching him fast, glaring up at Dyspo. He clenched his fists and screamed, shattering the ring of energy around him.
Kahseral thrust his hand forward and launched his Justice Bomber point blank at Kelerot. The Saiyan reacted by bringing his hand forward and channeling a great deal of energy to create a gravity well that absorbed Kahseral's attack like a vacuum and the general gasped in shock. He quickly turned to Dyspo as he was moving towards him for another bullet attack and Kelerot warped the gravity field around him with such intensity that it stopped Dyspo mid-flight and sent him down to the ground with a great deal of speed from the amount of gravity he was using to not only stop a blazing light speed Dyspo in his tracks, but to send him crashing down to the earth below. Kahseral gaped and was left speechless for a moment.
But that moment was short lived when he took a hard punch to the face that knocked a tooth out, blood spewing out of his mouth. Kelerot used his agility and power to start decimating Kahseral with punches to his face, chest, and back, culminating by grabbing his leg and flying down to slam him face first into the earth, embedding him through the soil with the amount of force he was using. He extended his hand and released the gravity field that trapped Dyspo, glancing down at Kahseral. He shot an energy blast that collided with the area he was in and an explosion of energy surrounded him, sending him flying up for a moment before his body crashed down, having flipped over so he could land on his back. He had enough power left to withstand the blast, but he knew he could no longer move his body and groaned as he tried to lift his hand but dropped it to his side.
Kelerot and Kahseral stared at one another for a moment and Kelerot knelt down on one knee.
"You fought valiantly, General Kahseral. For that, you have my respect," Kelerot told him but Kahseral couldn't return the courtesy, staring up at him with a neutral expression. He chuckled a bit after a moment and Kelerot closed his eyes, stifling a chuckle himself.
Dyspo managed to recover enough to bring himself back to his feet and his body looked a bit ragged from the impact. Breathing hard after expending a great deal of energy from his light speed mode, he burst into it again with a cry and shot another energy circle that caught Kelerot. Kelerot glared down at it and hissed at Dyspo before he was knocked away with a hard kick.
"BURN IN HELL! FINISH!" Dyspo screamed and the energy around Kelerot exploded. He collapsed to his hands and knees and breathed heavily, glancing at Kahseral.
"Do you think…we bought Jiren enough time?..."
"Don't say that. C'mon, get up," Dyspo said, offering his hand. Kahseral wanted to take it but he couldn't move an inch anymore, grunting as he tried in vain.
"Y'know what the worst part about all this is?"
"What?"
"I never once took Toppo's offer to go on a vacation to that resort planet. I heard there was a lot of beautiful women there," he laughed softly. Dyspo grinned, easing himself onto his knees.
"Hey General," Kahseral whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Can you fix up my beret for me? It's kinda loose on my head," he told him and Dyspo stifled a sob in his throat. He nodded.
"Sure thing, buddy," he tightened the beret on his head and took Kahseral's hand in between his hands, squeezing it.
"We'll rebuild the Pride Troopers, I promise you," Dyspo told him and Kahseral nodded weakly. A jolt hit Dyspo from behind him however and he couldn't even make an audible gasp. Kahseral watched as his friend dissolved in front of him in specks of purple energy, the hands that clutched his hand disappearing as well. Kelerot's face emerged in his field of vision after Dyspo was erased completely.
"No, he won't," Kelerot told him, staring down at him.
Kahseral couldn't help but laugh and cough at the same time. Maybe it was the hysterics behind it. Maybe dying wasn't as horrible as he always thought it was. He laughed, hoping that he would actually die rather than be erased from existence. That any solace he had left, he'd at least have that break for once in the otherworld. His hand dropped to his side as he continued laughing until his last breath left him and his one eye was staring up at the sky, ignoring Kelerot.
It was about another minute before a titanic aura of energy emerged from the upper atmosphere as Jiren flew into Netfiss. As he flew down, he frowned when he saw the field below and then gasped in shock. When he landed, his black eyes widened as he saw the bodies of several soldiers, Cocotte, Kettol, and Kahseral and he scanned the area to examine the bodies.
"Captain Cocotte…"
"Commander Kettol…"
"General Kahseral…"
When he hovered over Kahseral, he knelt down and observed his body more closely. Kahseral had a gentle, peaceful look on his face, which was a stark contrast to the looks of horror upon the faces of the other dead Troopers. He moved his hand and closed Kahseral's eye, sliding the eyelid over his one eye and resting his hand on Kahseral's chest, closing his eyes. It wasn't the first time Jiren had seen a massacre, as his anger gradually boiled up within him. The bodies of those he knew, those he served with, all archons of justice, all very proud of it, now gone. He searched the area but could find no trace of Dyspo or Kunshi. He caught signs of debris from a wrecked ship and deduced that was the wreckage of the Gauntlet, their prized battle cruiser that Zoiray kept bragging about. He felt no signs of Zoiray's energy either and assumed that his body was among the wreckage. His heart raced as he tried again to sense Dyspo and Kunshi but could only clench his teeth and his fists, scanning the area around him. His eyes turned to the city off in the distance and he could see several figures migrating to his location. The citizens of Netfiss, under direct orders to remain indoors during their search for the fugitive, now were emerging, unable to avoid their curious nature and see what had happened for themselves. Jiren walked over to the crowd that was starting to emerge and he could see their pale faces as they began taking in the scene before them.
"Jiren? Is this real? Are they all…?"
Jiren stared at them in silence.
The man who spoke staggered forward, his fear making his legs quiver like jelly and he collapsed on his knees when he saw the bodies more closely. The others who were right behind him all came forward as well and several couldn't hide their emotions anymore, weeping and sobbing openly.
"They're dead…every single one of them…oh God…" the man said, holding his head and clutching his hair.
"It's not safe here. You should return to the city," Jiren said calmly as he stared out at the crowd who were starting to gather around Kahseral. General Kahseral was a favorite among a lot of the citizens of Netfiss, one of the women who's cat he once saved from a tree collapsed on top of him and shrieked, burying her face in his chest. The woman's husband wrapped his hands around her to comfort her and whispered to her that they should heed Jiren's advice and make their way back to the city. Several of the citizens took the bodies of the Troopers that were still there and brought them with them into the city, leaving Jiren standing alone to watch and ensure that they did make their way back. When he was certain they were out of danger, he turned around to see Kelerot standing where Cocotte's body was and glared at him.
"If you're looking for Dyspo and Kunshi, they've been destroyed. I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that, right?"
Jiren's eyes narrowed. Destruction energy: the power of a God used to erase fellow Pride Troopers, namely Dyspo.
Jiren had taken a liking to Dyspo after the Tournament of Power and was eager to help him out more when he was engaged in off-world missions. He felt a great deal more pride in his associates this time and put a lot of his newfound trust and respect in them. He wasn't sure what he was feeling now: fear, disgust, or heartbreak? Seeing so few bodies meant that a lot of soldiers were either vaporized or destroyed by the man standing before him with a surprisingly calm expression on his face.
"They all fought bravely and their deaths were not wasted. I expected nothing less from the Pride Troopers," Kelerot said.
"There is no honor in any of this," Jiren began. "You should not have had this level of strength in the first place. How did you come by the power of a Destroyer?"
"Why should you care?" Kelerot asked. "Strength is strength, regardless of how you obtain or use it. Isn't that your raison d'etre?"
"I earned this strength through hard work, training, and dedication to absolute justice. You've used your strength to oppress the weak and subject them to terror. You've taken countless lives with no regard for their well-being nor felt remorse for your actions. I cannot and will not let this go unpunished."
Kelerot began to circle Jiren, walking casually around him. "If you knew the hell I've lived, you would've seen my point of view more clearly rather than cling to that black-and-white concept of justice you and the Pride Troopers hold onto so dearly. You have no idea how much I've grown to loathe that narrow-minded outlook," Kelerot spat, feeling the venom of those words leave a rancid taste in his mouth.
"It ensures the people of this universe can live a safe and secure life from criminals such as yourself," Jiren said and Kelerot barked a laugh.
"Safe and secure?! Putting a planet full of cities on lockdown to hunt one criminal is hardly what I call 'safe and secure'. That ideology makes them just as much a prisoner as I was when Kutlerie imposed his will on us. Do you want to know what kind of person Kutlerie was? The man Toppo considered a childhood friend? If you want to know who the real monster was, look no further than the warden of that prison you people sent me to. A man who let his power corrupt his sense of judgment that gave him the cute idea of allowing the inmates to hold little brawls for their guards amusement. A brawl where if I died, the guard who placed their wager would win the whole pot. If only Toppo knew what he had sent to live with the prisoners, Kutlerie wouldn't have bothered with his little game in the first place."
"Keeping criminals such as yourself away from civilized societies is the pinnacle of our system of justice, a system we've enforced for decades!" Jiren roared and clenched his fists. Kelerot paused, staring at him. He looked beyond Jiren to the city and frowned.
"So that's it then, isn't it? Make sure you obey the rules, your rules, otherwise you rot in prison for the rest of your life. You're just going from one form of oppression to another without any concept of freedom. That makes it all the more obvious why Toppo has to be destroyed, no, needs to be destroyed. His ideal vision of this universe is one where he enforces the kind of justice that is negligent on the freedom its sworn to protect. You're better off not being a part of that vision."
Jiren shook his head. "You delude yourself into thinking that our justice is corrupted. Justice punishes evildoers and ensures that the righteous shall triumph."
"If that's the case, you'll have to break your one rule to enforce it," Kelerot smiled, hinting at Jiren's own sense of justice. It was something he learned through delving Toppo and the other Pride Troopers he fought earlier. They all had memories of fighting with Jiren and the same rule continued to be used whenever Jiren was involved: his outright refusal to kill. He took one more look at Netfiss city and then to the sky.
"Let's fight somewhere that won't put those people in danger. I can at least grant you that courtesy," Kelerot suggested and Jiren glanced back behind him. He stared at the city with a sombre look, a bit saddened that he never got to spend that much time with the citizens his friends have been so fond of. He could picture Dyspo and Kahseral exiting their favorite coffee shop and Dyspo's impatience as he took that first sip, burning his tongue. He smiled as he remembered that memory. The only time he did spend considerably in Netfiss was during Kahseral's birthday when the General was given an upgrade to his cybernetics from Cocotte and Kunshi. Jiren felt a bit of embarrassment when he couldn't find a suitable gift to give him but Dyspo would tell him that "your presence here is good enough for us, my friend."
He saw them through his memories: all smiles, all enjoying their work as they brought in criminals to put them away in the galactic prison. When the reality of seeing some of them dead on the field a moment ago when he arrived started hitting him even more, he couldn't help but stare with contempt at the man who committed this atrocity. For a moment he wanted to believe that this was the same man who killed his family and his master but no, that was a long time ago and this was a new demon he had to take down. He took one last glance at the city before nodding at Kelerot.
"Agreed."
"I'll choose the location and wait for you there. You'll know where I'll teleport to," Kelerot said and gulped. Why the hell am I doing this? I could've easily left this place and searched for Toppo, wherever he is. That's another thing. I can't sense him or Cae anywhere.
Kelerot had been searching for Barbon's energy since he arrived on Netfiss, using the battle to stretch out his senses and see if he could locate them. Had he been able to find them, he would've teleported away and left the Pride Troopers alone, coming back to finish off Dyspo and Kahseral after he dealt with Barbon. Yet nothing was coming up and that bothered him more than it should've.
What was also apparent was his reluctance to leave. He had used up a bit of energy fighting these Pride Troopers, even though a majority of their attacks did little damage to him. It did leave him at a small disadvantage against Jiren and he wondered if his power was going to be enough. Having the power of a Destroyer is irrelevant when facing a mortal who not even a Destroyer could best in combat. He began thinking on it some more and grinned a bit.
Maybe meeting those Saiyans from the Seventh Universe had some effect on me. Maybe meeting Son Goku rubbed off on me, leaving me this desire to test my strength against someone like Jiren. I know I can easily leave this place and let him stew in this chaos, but I'm now more curious than ever to see whether I can actually topple the mightiest warrior in the multiverse.
He felt something grow in him that he hadn't expected before. Something that was making his heart race, and his body feel flush. He felt a tingly sensation which made the hairs on his body stand and the energy of the area shifted around and inside him. He thought he was feeling genuine fear but this wasn't it. He felt a rush in his body the more he stared at Jiren and he couldn't help but smile.
Then it clicked.
He felt excitement.